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Security report for fsfe.org

Free Software Foundation Europe · Non-profit · N/a

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

56/100

Risk levelMedium

0–100, higher is better. How it is calculated

The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a well-established non-profit organization founded in 2001, dedicated to advocating for software freedom and empowering users to control technology. The website serves as a comprehensive platform for news, events, campaigns, and community engagement related to free software in Europe. It targets users, contributors, and policy stakeholders interested in digital rights and software freedom. The organization operates with a clear mission and maintains a consistent brand presence with multilingual support and community testimonials. Technically, the website employs a modern yet somewhat dated technology stack including jQuery, Modernizr, and Bootstrap 3. It is hosted under the registrar Gandi SAS and shows moderate performance with good mobile optimization and accessibility. The site lacks a CMS indication, suggesting a custom or static site approach. SEO and metadata are well implemented with comprehensive Open Graph and Twitter card tags. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS and has domain transfer protections but lacks DNSSEC and visible security headers. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. Privacy compliance is strong with a comprehensive privacy policy, though no cookie consent mechanism was found. Contact is primarily via forms and a contact page, with no direct emails or phone numbers publicly listed. Social media presence is limited but includes Mastodon and Peertube. Overall, FSFE's website demonstrates a high level of professionalism, trustworthiness, and content quality suitable for its non-profit advocacy role. Recommendations include enabling DNSSEC, adding security headers, implementing cookie consent, and publishing explicit security and incident response policies to further enhance trust and compliance.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 100 · Medium
Checks completed
7of 7

NIS2 Art. 21(2)

  1. (a) Risk analysis and security policies: Not visible from outside
  2. (b) Incident handling: One indicator
  3. (c) Business continuity, backups and crisis management: Not visible from outside
  4. (d) Supply chain security: Not visible from outside
  5. (e) Secure acquisition, development and maintenance, including vulnerability handling: Partly checked
  6. (f) Assessing the effectiveness of security measures: Not visible from outside
  7. (g) Cyber hygiene and security training: Not visible from outside
  8. (h) Cryptography and encryption: Partly checked
  9. (i) HR security, access control and asset management: One indicator
  10. (j) Multi-factor authentication and secured communications: Not visible from outside

This scan rated NIS2 with an earlier keyword method that is no longer shown; rescan for the per-article view. Risk management, continuity, supply chain, training, MFA, management oversight (Art. 20) and incident reporting (Art. 23) need internal evidence, and Guard cannot tell whether NIS2 applies to this organisation.

GDPR is indicative only, based on publicly visible signals: Articles 7, 12, 13 and 32 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive. Not a certification or legal assessment.

Priority findings

4 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Security headers

    Security headers are instructions your web server sends to every visitor’s browser. Missing ones leave visitors more exposed to attacks such as clickjacking and injected scripts.

    • High

      Missing Content-Security-Policy header

      Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

      What to do: Implement a Content-Security-Policy appropriate for your application

      • ASVS V3.4.3
      • OWASP Secure Headers: OWASP Secure Headers Project recommends Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; form-action 'self'; base-uri 'self'; object-src 'none';…

  2. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • High

      No Cookie Policy found

      GDPR requires clear information about cookie usage

      What to do: Add a dedicated cookie policy explaining cookie usage and purposes

    • High

      No Cookie Consent Banner found

      GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies

      What to do: Implement a cookie consent banner that appears on first visit

  3. SSL/TLS

    TLS encrypts the connection and proves the site is really yours. Weak or expiring certificates trigger browser warnings and put traffic at risk.

    • High

      Weak SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

Need hands-on remediation? Email guard@offseq.com

Keep watching fsfe.org

This scan found 24 issues across 6 checks. Monitoring re-runs those checks daily, emails you when something material changes and records each fix, so you can show progress.

Daily monitoring

Recommended

€25per month

  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
  • SPF, DKIM and DMARC
  • Security headers
  • GDPR and NIS2 posture
  • Exposed services
  • Third-party trackers
  • Security score drift

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Results by check

Each check with its score, findings and the evidence it collected.

How this score is calculated

The security score runs 0–100, higher is better. It is the plain average of the security checks that completed in this scan, each counted equally. A check that could not run is left out: it counts neither as a pass nor as a fail.

Counted in this score

SSL/TLS
65
Security headers
45
Email security
55
DNS health
80
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
53
Average
56

Not counted

  • NIS2 outside view: Re-weights evidence from the TLS, email, DNS, network and hygiene checks, so counting it would count that evidence twice. Shown on its own.
  • OffSeq Observations: An AI reading of the site, useful context but not reproducible evidence. Shown on its own.

Findings that cap the score at 49

Each of these is serious on its own, so while any is present the site cannot rate better than high risk, however good the other checks are.

  • The certificate is not trusted by browsers
  • The website is not served over HTTPS
  • A database, remote desktop, file-sharing or Telnet service is reachable from the internet
  • The page loads a script from a compromised source
  • The domain registration has expired
  • SPF authorises every server to send mail as the domain

Partial scans

When the site blocks Guard or most checks cannot run, the score covers only the checks that ran (usually DNS and email), is capped at 75 and is shown as partial, without a risk level.

Risk levels

  • Critical0–25
  • High26–49
  • Medium50–75
  • Low76–100

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

FSFE holds a strong market position as a leading European non-profit advocating for free software and digital rights. Its business model focuses on community engagement, legal support, and policy advocacy rather than commercial revenue. The organization benefits from a network of sister organizations globally, enhancing its influence and reach. Its target audience includes software users, developers, activists, and policymakers interested in software freedom. The website content and structure support growth through events, newsletters, and volunteer contributions. The lack of direct commercial activities aligns with its non-profit status, emphasizing transparency and community trust.

Security posture

The security posture of FSFE's website is solid but could be improved. HTTPS is enforced, and domain transfer protections are in place, which are critical baseline measures. However, the absence of DNSSEC and security headers such as Content Security Policy, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options represents missed opportunities to harden the site against common web attacks. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure policies are publicly available, which could limit rapid response to security issues. The site does not expose sensitive data and uses secure forms for data collection. Overall, the security maturity is moderate with room for enhancement to meet best practices and compliance standards.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement standard security headers including Content Security Policy (CSP), HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), and X-Frame-Options.
  3. Add a cookie consent banner or mechanism if cookies are used to comply with privacy regulations.
  4. Publish explicit security and incident response policies to improve transparency and readiness.
  5. Consider adding direct contact emails or phone numbers for security and general inquiries to enhance trust and communication.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Free Software Foundation Europe
Description
Non profit organisation working to create general understanding and support for software freedom. Includes news, events, and campaigns.
Key services
Advocacy for software freedom, Community engagement, Legal support and policy intervention, Educational campaigns and events
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery 3.5.1, Modernizr, Bootstrap 3.0.3
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • Domain status clientTransferProhibited
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure forms with required fields

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

Design
excellent
User experience
excellent
Content relevance
excellent
Navigation
excellent
Professionalism
excellent
Trustworthiness
high

Key observations

  1. Website is a well-established non-profit focused on free software advocacy.
  2. Content is rich, multilingual, and professionally presented.
  3. No signs of malicious or suspicious content.
  4. No explicit privacy or security policy pages beyond privacy policy found.
  5. No cookie consent banner detected despite privacy policy presence.
  6. No visible phone numbers or direct email addresses; contact via forms and contact page.
  7. Social media presence includes Mastodon and Peertube links.
  8. No analytics or tracking scripts detected in provided HTML.
  9. Website uses modern but somewhat dated frontend libraries (Bootstrap 3, jQuery 3.5.1).
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a combination of jQuery 3.5.1, Modernizr, and Bootstrap 3.0.3, indicating a stable but somewhat dated frontend technology stack. The site is likely custom-built or statically generated, as no CMS is detected. Performance is moderate with good mobile responsiveness and accessibility features. SEO is well addressed through meta tags and multilingual support. Hosting is managed via Gandi SAS, a reputable registrar and hosting provider. There is no evidence of modern JavaScript frameworks or advanced backend technologies in the provided HTML. The site could benefit from modernization to improve performance and maintainability.
Standards and sources

Reference chips under each finding point to the standard, regulation or specification the finding relates to. They are taken from the official datasets below and mapped conservatively: a finding with no defensible link shows none. NIS2 and GDPR references mark where a finding is relevant evidence, not a compliance verdict. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690 binds digital infrastructure and digital service providers; for other entities it is the most detailed public reading of the Article 21 measures. WCAG, EN 301 549, European Accessibility Act and Web Accessibility Directive references name the requirement an automated accessibility rule relates to; they are not a conformance verdict.

Retrieved 2026-10-25

Earlier scans of this domain

  1. 60/100Medium28 findingsView report
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